Review of Zoovolution

Zoovolution is a free-to-play educational browser game made for kids and young teens. The game features minigames, and educates players on endangered animals, and the steps mankind can take to help them.

Review of Zoovolution

Players start off by making their character, as they do in most MMOs, but with extremely limited options. No matter what choices they pick, the characters end up looking short and childlike. It’s a stylistic choice, to be sure, but it isn’t all too appealing, and has limitations that quickly become apparent. Besides characters looking similar to each other due to limited options, they’re also not fully rendered in 3D, meaning many of the minigames need to be played with stand-ins. Minigames, which make up a bulk of the game’s content, often ask players to choose a character, which seems a bit silly considering the fact that the game begins with players making their avatar.

These minigames serve more of a purpose than simple time wasters; they also reward players with points. Scattered throughout "Zoovolution's" island are dozens of short, simple pastimes that give players in-game currency for playing. In both single player and multiplayer form, the games are generally too simple for their own good, but lack a tutorial to teach players what they’re about to do. For someone who has been playing games their entire life it’s easy to figure out the controls and what the game’s goal is, but for newcomers – the target audience for "Zoovolution" – it could be a detriment....